Today marks the beginning of your adventure with a tour of Ternate's historical sites before boarding your ship, meeting the crew, and settling into your new home for the next two weeks. During lunch, the ship will set sail for a short journey to Dojinga Village on Halmahera Island, a key location in scientific history where the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace developed the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. Later in the afternoon, enjoy your first swim and snorkel on a beautiful coral reef before heading south as the sun sets behind the cone-shaped peaks of the northern Moluccas.

Today, explore the Guraici Archipelago, a series of islands known for their white sandy beaches, colorful coral reefs, and charming local villages. Spend the entire day snorkeling, swimming, and visiting a village to meet the locals. The islands are part of a conservation area managed by the government to protect the reefs and the diverse marine life that inhabits them. These safe waters are great for beginner snorkelers or those who need to practice before the upcoming snorkeling adventures. In the evening, head to the island of Bacan.

Search for special butterfly species, unique birds, and quirky mammals today. Explore the deep forest and rivers of Bacan Island, where Wallace first saw what he called ‘the most beautiful butterfly in the world, the Golden Birdwing. During your trek, you might see other species, including cuscus, the black-crested macaque, and some hornbills. After lunch, spend the afternoon snorkeling and swimming on the nearby reef and beaches.

Culture and spice will fill your day as you find yourself off the coast of the white sand island of Obi Latu, a place filled with clove and nutmeg plantations. Obi Latu's steep hillsides are covered in clove and nutmeg forests, returning to the rich and heady days of the spice trade, which saw many a European power vying for control of the East Indies. While the spice trade might not be what it once was, the growers can still make a good living on this remote island in the Banda Sea. Go ashore and walk through the villages and plantations and see the fruits and spices growing on the trees and drying in the sun, ready for market, in the same way it has for centuries.

Today will be a day for snorkeling, culture, and history as you find yourself in the middle of the Banda Sea in the remote and breathtaking Sulu Archipelago. Spend the morning exploring the beaches and reefs of Mangoli Island, where the reefs are teeming with fish and other marine life. True to the desert island locale, you can also kayak, paddle, swim, explore, and relax on the white-sand beaches. Later that day, feast on some history and culture as you visit the local village market and see the ruins of a 17th-century Dutch fort, which once protected the spice trade along these routes.

The cultural experiences ratchet up a notch today with a war dance performed in your honor, while the nighttime will be filled with Indonesian music. Go ashore on Taliabu Island and enjoy a traditional dance known as the ‘cakalale’ by local warriors. You can also have a chance to explore the local village and meet the people of this remote island. The afternoon will see you snorkeling on a reef teeming with fish before moving to another deserted island, where you can swim, kayak, and relax. This evening, the crew will prepare a beach BBQ for you, and they will regale you with traditional Indonesian folk songs and sea shanties as you party by firelight late into the night.

The Bokan Islands is an area of unsurpassed beauty, and today will be a day of marine exploration and relaxation as you snorkel, swim, paddle, and kayak around the glorious reefs, beaches, and islands with many caves and snorkeling spots. You also have the rare privilege to swim in a small marine lake filled with stingless jellyfish, the exotically named Danau Piasu Botangan, one of only 20 lakes of its kind worldwide.

Today, a trio of unique experiences involving culture, conservation, and wildlife await you. Visit the bustling Indonesian island port town of Bangai, a place filled with activity and commerce. Here on Banggai Island, visit the local market, explore the neighborhoods, the sultan’s palace, and the maleo bird egg ‘museum,’ and all from your fleet of brightly-colored motor rickshaws, which will be on the dock awaiting your arrival. Visit LINI, an NGO doing great work with coral restoration on the surrounding reefs, and work with local fishermen to find sustainable solutions for supplying fish for overseas markets and the live aquarium fishing trade. The last of the day’s highlights will be a snorkel on a local reef where you can see the most elegant but very threatened Banggai Cardinal Fish – a darling of saltwater aquarium lovers worldwide.

Today, you can see one of the world's strangest and most unique flightless birds - the Maleo. After a morning snorkel, sail north to visit the endemic Maleo in their beachside environment, the symbol of the province within which it lives. Visit a conservation project on the mainland where scores of Maleo live and breed. Entering twos, you can watch them at their sandy nesting sites from a camouflaged hide as they do their business. Later that afternoon, set sail for the Togean Islands National Park for some island hopping and spectacular snorkeling, wildlife, and culture.

The Bajau sea gypsies of Southeast have a very unique way of life, living in harmony with the water, and today you can get to see it up close. Go ashore to Kabalutan Village, where a population of about 2500 Bajau calls home, and be welcomed into their world to meet and talk with them about their lives. Snorkel and swim on pristine coral reefs in the afternoon before moving further into the park.

Some great wildlife experiences await you today, both in the water and the air, with birds, fish, and invertebrates as the main features. Enjoy a snorkel on the lush reefs near the island of Malenge before taking your snorkels and masks for a rare second swim with stingless jellyfish in nearby Lake Mariona, the second jellyfish lake on your route. Visit a local village and meet the people, and enjoy a late afternoon walk in the local forest before being witness to a most impressive show of nature as flocks of hornbills come flying in to roost in the trees – a once-in-a-lifetime sight only accessible with SeaTrek.

Wake up in the east of the park, go snorkeling, and visit a local village before setting sail on a long crossing towards the Sulawesi mainland, where you can relax, watch the world go by, and take in the beauty of the sea from the decks of your ship. In the afternoon, the chef will offer a cooking class for those interested in learning how to prepare some traditional Indonesian dishes. To finish the day, cocktails will be served on the back deck before a specially prepared dinner is served, followed by a party with the crew's band providing the music and entertainment.

This morning, you are on the outside 'elbow' of North Sulawesi, and you have the chance to engage in more cultural exchanges and impressive snorkeling. After breakfast, go ashore to a remote village and meet the local people. They invite you into their village to share their way of life. You can also walk in the nearby forest on the lookout for birds. Snorkel a local reef before you head north, stopping off en route for another snorkel and a swim towards the end of the day before the crew throws you a final beach BBQ, where you can dance and sing into the night under the stars next to a roaring bonfire.

Waking up just off the coast near the Tasikoki Rescue Centre, go ashore and have a short tour of the impressive facilities at this NGO and hear all about their conservation program and also have the chance to see orangutans, cockatoos, sun bears, monkeys, and other endangered wildlife. After a final swim and snorkel on the beach and then a short sail into Bitung Harbour, say a fond farewell to your crew and tour leaders and head to Manado City for your onward flights or to start one of your special SeaTrek add-on programs.